Because my current lease with VW is expiring in September 2018 I started looking to enter a new lease in July.
I have a 2015 Passat Limited Edition leased from VW Clear Lake, where I live by, and have been very happy with it.
I test drove a 2018 Passat SE and liked it a lot, but the price presented was a lot higher than I wanted. So I searched internet hoping to get a better price.
West Houston VW’s sales rep Saad Rahmani contacted me by email and text. After I explained to him what I was looking for and my budget, he said he could get close to my current lease price, which is $300 per month for 36 months lease with $0 down, on a Passat S, a Jetta or Tiguan Limited. He invited me to see him.
I drove one hour from Clear Lake to West Houston VW in Katy to meet him on 7/31. After going through the same old sales negotiation acts a few rounds for 2 hours, I signed the lease for a Tiguan Limited S for $305 per month for 48 months because I trusted his words that this was the best price I could ever get that they were losing money on this deal.
I had to drive away the new Tiguan Limited and left my Passat in their parking lot because I could not drive two cars at the same time.
I could not wait to tell my colleague about the exciting new car but was only shocked to learn that her family leased a 2018 Tiguan SE from the same dealership in February for $258 per month for 36 months with $1650 down only.
I expressed my shock and disappointment to Saad three days later when I went back to the dealership to pick up my Passat. He said because each month the incentives given are different also interest rates have been going up I should not compare these two prices this way and I really got the best deal. I told myself to trust his words again.
However, the real shock came a few weeks later when I visited VW Clear Lake on 9/6 to discuss options for my expiring lease on the Passat - I learned that day that Tiguan Limited requires “Premium Gas Only”! Nobody at West Houston VW ever told me that Tiguan Limited is a “Premium Gas Only” car and I have been filling with regular gas into it! Most important, I would definitely not have leased it if I had been told it requires “Premium Gas Only”.
On 9/7 the next day, I called West Houston VW and asked to speak with the GM and left him a voicemail. I also drove there on the same day to make a complaint and request to terminate the lease. Shane Hubbard, the Sales Manager, accepted me.
His defense was that sales reps are not required to disclose this information because not every customer cares about if a car requires regular or premium gas. I could not agree at all.
I asked him if so why all the stickers list fuel economy information in bold letters? It’s because it is one of the most important information and material enough to affect consumer’s purchasing decision. Plus, Tiguan Limited is not a luxury car which consumers would naturally assume and use premium gas. Moreover, Tiguan requires regular gas, not premium gas, so Tiguan Limited’s “Premium Gas Only” requirement is an exception, not a norm or common sense, so should be disclosed to buyer during the sales process.
Shane then said even though it says “Premium Gas Only” it does not mean you cannot drive the car with regular gas – I could not believe what I heard and asked him if he suggest I keep using regular gas? What if there is a problem later? Who will take the responsibility? Will the warranty be honored? He said he just does not think putting in regular gas will cause problems.
He said the dealership can do nothing about the lease because I signed the contract and it is now between me and the VW credit. I can make a complaint to VW manufacture if I like.
I reported this issue to VW Credit on 9/10 and they referred me to VW Customer Care. The complaint was filed.
VW Customer Care called me back the next day on 9/11 saying that they had forwarded my complaint to West Houston VW and the GM said the sales rep said he did go through with me all the details about the car.
Of course, this was a lie, in regard to the “Premium Gas Only” information.
I was told that they will ask the GM to call me to discuss more if I would like. I said yes please ask him to call me.
But up to now, no one called me from West Houston VW.
Hui
Houston,#2Author of original report
Thu, September 20, 2018
My daughter just passed her road test on 9/16 and got her license on Monday of 9/17 - do you need me to email you her temporary license to prove? When I went shopping for the new car she still cant drive alone and now she can. We need two cars and we have two now. Two VW - the 2015 passat I probably will buy out and the Tiguan Limited that I would defnitely have not agreed to buy if I were told it requires premium gas only.
They are both turbo engines. As for my colleagues' Tiguan, I knew all their lease terms - she drove me to the dealership to pick up my passat and we asked the sales rep to bring out the contract info from his computer. I am not an engineer like you sound but I know what I am saying when compare something and I am honest to my words. I thank you for writing your input and analysis and sharing your belief and opinion.
Robert
Irvine,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, September 20, 2018
No, you weren't misunderstood. Your entire setup to buying this car talked about your current lease being termnated, there was not one word that this was for your daughter. To the point that the reason you went there was because of a conversation that says they could match your current lease and when you left you had to leave your other car there. If this was for your daughter why didn't your daughter drive the new one back so you could drive yours? You even went to the point stating that YOU have been filling the tank with regular fuel. Not one word about your daughter.
That is what is known as fluff, as your previous lease had NOTHING to do with the purchase of this car but was added in as filler to try and add elements to make your story more sympathetic.
As for the price, again you are comparing Apples to Oranges and have to look at the entire "deal" such as Capitalized Costs. Where basically what your coworker did was buy-down the lease does not necesarrily get distributed as you tried to claim. Other factors such as mileage also matter. You could lease a high end luxury car for $200 if you are willing to accept a low mileage allowance. But in the end you did say something right..you signed the deal without doing the proper research to see if you
As for the fuel requirement, that comes down to buyer's remorse. You say that most people wouldn't know about the fuel requirement, that may be true or not. But if you are buying a "tubro" most people would at least ask or do their research. You say that you could not agree that most customers do not care about the fuel requirement, that is your opinion.
So again this is just a case of buyer's remorse.
Hui
Houston,#4Author of original report
Mon, September 17, 2018
Thank you Robert for your reply.
There are a few points you misunderstood because I did not elaorate enough.
1. My daughter is 17 and just got her license so she needs a car which means we would need two cars from now on. Initially I was looking for a new Passat lease from the original dealer and returning the current one like you suggested which also was the purpose I chose to lease over purchasing 3 years ago. But because the Passat SE price was higher than I wanted I started searching on internet which brought me to West Houston VW from my Clear Lake VW. When I was introduced to the Tiguan Limited I thought it should be a safer choice to have a SUV instead of a Sedan for my daughter. That's why I picked it. I will still keep working on what to do with my Passat by either returning it for a new Passat lease or simply buying it out.
2. My colleague's Tiguan SE is a regular Tiguan while mine is a Tiguan Limited, a smaller and budget version of the regular one, as the sales rep told me that it is much more expensive than mine thus much beyond my budget. Considering the down pay of $1650, my colleague got their regular Tiguan SE (maximum 7 seats) for $304 per month for 36 months back in Febuary, while I got a Tiguan Limited S (5 seats) for $305 per month for 48 months in end of July, this just didn't sound reasonable to me. And my credit score is 825. But I was OK as I understand I had signed the contract.
3. What I am now complaining about is the "Premium Gas Only" requirement that no one disclosed to me and how their sales manager addressed this issue. They should disclose this unusual information to car buyers because it's material enough to affect my purchase decision as regular Tiguan DOES NOT require Premium Gas Only, Moreover, when I brought it up to them, the sales manager suggested that I could just use regular gas. What is that?!
Robert
Irvine,#5Consumer Comment
Mon, September 17, 2018
I won't even bother going into how great a Flease.umm..Lease is because anyone who actually freely pays for two leases at one time probably wouldn't understand. You talk about most people. But most people if they must have a lease they would have the common sense when a lease is comming up for termination they would look at using the residual value of the first car to get a better deal on another lease. But not you...you go to a dealer get a totally new
lease, and then 2 months later go to another dealer to see how to terminate the first.
As for someone got a better deal. Let's see...you got an S they got an SE. What was the purchase price and the residual value of the two cars? You got a 48 month lease, they got a 36 month. They put down $1600...how much did you put down? What is their milage allowance..what is yours? What is their credit rating compared to yours? But that not withstanding, did you do any research to see if you were getting the good price?
You complain about the fuel requirement, so did you research this vehicle before you bought it? With all of the issues VW has had one would think that you would have fully researched this aspect out and found out the requirements.
What we have here is nothing more than a case of Buyer's Remorse.